Insomnia is screwing up my running. (Read 1118 times)

First I'll apologize for the lack of paragraphs...darn iphone. Anyway, I run at 5 AM. It's the only time that really works for me, and I like it. The problem is that the last month or so, I've been waking up around 2:00, and I'm wide awake for a couple of hours. Sometimes I just go ahead and get up and head out to run at the usual time, and I'm fine till around 4 PM. Then I'm toast for the rest of the day. Other times, I'll start getting sleepy around four, and reset my alarm clock to allow myself to get a couple more hours of sleep. Of course that means no run. Is there anything safe to take that will allow me to sleep well, but still be awake and alert at 4:30 AM? I should add that I cut off all caffeine by around 1 PM. Shouldn't that be early enough? And I'm not going to bed super early. Usually around 9:30-10:00.

You mention cutting out caffeine by 1pm - if that's not working then you could try cutting it out all together. (Caffeine withdrawal is no fun - but it goes away completely after about a week.) Another other drug in common usage that's well known to mess with your sleep is alcohol ... so you could try cutting down/giving up that too.

Maybe I should cut back on the caffeine. Not sure I can cut it out completely, but if I get desperate enough, I might. I've scaled back on the alcohol to maybe one weekend night, sometimes not even that. Thanks for the suggestions.

There is a low dosage that you can take if you wake up in the middle of the night. Although, 2 1/2 hours, I don't know if that would wear off by 4:30...but if you take some when you go to bed, it should get you through the night.

You can get it at health food stores, probably even regular grocery stores.

If you google "sleep hygiene", you'll find all sorts of helpful (and mostly easy) behavioral changes you can make to make a good night's sleep more likely.

I also second the melatonin suggestion... I've had to do a 12-13 hour time change (i.e., complete reversal of day and night) many times, and melatonin has really helped. My understanding is that it's pretty safe, although I'm sure Trent will correct me on this.

"Because in the end, you won't remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain."

bright screens can re-set your clock but it sounds like you are waking up too early, instead of not being able to get to sleep

Right. I fall asleep easily, then wake up after a few hours. One mistake I'm making, though, is reaching for my phone and checking FB and playing Words if I'm unable to go right back to sleep. Gotta stop that!

Right. I fall asleep easily, then wake up after a few hours. One mistake I'm making, though, is reaching for my phone and checking FB and playing Words if I'm unable to go right back to sleep. Gotta stop that!

Have you tried reading Daniels?

"Because in the end, you won't remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain."

You mention cutting out caffeine by 1pm - if that's not working then you could try cutting it out all together. (Caffeine withdrawal is no fun - but it goes away completely after about a week.) Another other drug in common usage that's well known to mess with your sleep is alcohol ... so you could try cutting down/giving up that too.

Sounds depressing.

Really it's good advice. I constantly try to keep both in check....constant artificial ups and downs can't be great for you.

"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand